SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 and ispace’s RESILIENCE lunar landers

On January 15, 2025, SpaceX launched a new Falcon 9 rocket featuring an important Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 to the Moon. The launch vehicle lifted off from Launch Complex 39A in Florida and the payload is accompanied by ispace’s RESILIENCE lunar lander.

The first stage used has completed its fifth overall flight and previously supported the launch of Crew-9, RRT-1, and two Starlink missions. After hot-staging, the first stage returned and landed on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.

On the other hand, the second stage started its engine at 2:38 minutes, followed by engine cutoff at 7:49 minutes. After 50 minutes, the second stage will call the SES-2 event, to restart the engine, and SECO-2 at 59:25 minutes. The deployment begins with Blue Ghost and ends with ispace’s Resilience.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket liftoff from Launch Complex 39A in Florida

Ghost Mission 1

Blue Ghost Mission 1 is a lunar lander to deliver ten payloads to the lunar surface. It aims to investigate heat flow from the lunar interior, plume-surface interactions, and crustal electric and magnetic fields. The lander will also capture X-ray images of Earth’s magnetosphere.

In terms of appearance, this lander has a box-shaped structural framework and four landing legs. It has two decks to hold equipment and a 155 kg payload capacity.

It takes power from onboard solar panels on the sides, and more can be deployed on the deck based on the spacecraft and the Sun’s orientation. These panels can provide up to 650 in peak hours.

Furthermore, the lander has a communication system that would enable up to 10 Mbps peak downlink and up to 2 kbps peak uplink.

After deployment, the lander will take approx 45 days to reach the Moon and land in MARE Crisium, located in the Crisium basin, just northeast of mare Tranquillitatis.

Resilience

On the other hand, the RESILIENCE lander will be on a 4-5 month journey to the Moon. During this mission, the lander aim to achieve a soft landing on the surface and deploy TENACIOUS Micro Rover to explore the Moon and collect regolith.

(source)